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Summary

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### Bible Study Summary: 1 Corinthians 3:1-7

#### Introduction and Context
The Bible study began with a prayer led by Kevin (KB7ZXN), followed by a reading of 1 Corinthians 3:1-7 by Scott (N7 in PA). The passage addresses the divisions within the Corinthian church and emphasizes the importance of focusing on the message and the Spirit rather than on personalities. This study delves into themes of spiritual growth, the power of the message, and the need for deeper understanding in the Christian walk.

#### Paul's Message on Church Divisions
Paul addresses the divisions within the Corinthian church, noting that some were saying, "I follow Paul," or "I follow Apollos," or "I follow Cephas." He reminds them that the power is in the message and the work of the Spirit, not in individuals. This passage underscores the importance of unity and the message of salvation, which is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes. The discussion highlighted the need to focus on the message and the Spirit, rather than on personalities, to maintain unity within the church.

**Discussion Questions:**
1. How do divisions within the church affect its witness and effectiveness?
2. In what ways can we ensure that our focus remains on the message and the Spirit rather than on personalities?

#### Spiritual Growth and Transition
The study also explored the theme of spiritual growth, emphasizing the transition from spiritual infancy to maturity. The group discussed how focusing on the flesh instead of God's wisdom can hinder spiritual growth. The illustrations provided, such as moving from milk to meat and potatoes, and from the shallow to the deep end of the pool, underscore the need to move beyond the basics to deeper understanding. Kevin's illustration of focusing on the paintbrush instead of the painter and Scott's comparison of eating salad versus steak and potatoes further emphasized this point.

**Discussion Questions:**
1. How can we recognize when we are stuck in spiritual infancy?
2. What steps can we take to move from spiritual milk to solid food?

#### Effort in Spiritual Growth
The group discussed the importance of effort in spiritual growth. Illustrations such as reciting John 3:16 versus understanding justification, sanctification, and glorification, and singing Amazing Grace versus understanding substitutionary atonement, highlighted the need for deeper engagement with the message. The discussion also touched on the importance of ministering to both new believers and those seeking deeper understanding, emphasizing that spiritual growth is a lifelong process.

**Discussion Questions:**
1. What are some practical ways to deepen our understanding of the message?
2. How can we support both new and mature believers in their spiritual journeys?

#### Church Ministry and Unity
The study concluded with a discussion on church ministry and unity. The group emphasized the importance of never stopping growth and the need to minister to all levels of believers. The illustration of diving off the high dive into the pool was used to encourage deeper engagement with the message. The group also discussed prayer requests, including those for pastors who are constantly interrupted, divine protection, and the importance of congregational singing and unity.

**Discussion Questions:**
1. How can we ensure that our church ministries cater to both new and mature believers?
2. What role does congregational singing play in fostering unity and gratitude?

#### Closing Remarks
The study concluded with a closing prayer led by Jerry (AE70R). Beck shared his personal experience of divine protection and intervention, and the group expressed gratitude for Pastor Max and the Bible study. The importance of saying thank you and expressing gratitude was emphasized, along with the future expectation of playing guitar in heaven.

**Discussion Questions:**
1. How can we cultivate a spirit of gratitude in our daily lives?
2. What are some ways we can express gratitude to God and others?

This Bible study provided a rich discussion on the importance of unity, spiritual growth, and the power of the message in the Christian walk. Through thoughtful discussion and personal illustrations, participants were encouraged to deepen their understanding and engagement with the message of salvation.
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Transcript

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Thank you. I'm going to go ahead and turn the camera back on. I don't know if you can see me. WS7SAB and ALF-ALFA 5 Yankee. Okay, that's Beck. W7SAB and ALF-ALFA 5 Yankee, Beck, good morning. Good to have you with us. How are you doing? Good morning. I'm doing great. I hope you're doing the same. No new players. All right, real good, Beck. You're doing well. No new prayers. Copy that. Okay, the net would like to acknowledge Keith, K6NEB. Good morning, Keith. Good to have you with us. See you there on the Utah SDR. That's K7NEB, Keith. All right, any other check-ins this morning? Please come now. TWO is out there. Thank you. So Beck, Alpha Alpha 5 Yankee, he said that Mike, W7TWO is out there. Mike has already checked in, but Mike, go ahead if you've got a new comment. Go ahead there, Mike. I thought it was KJ7PWO, maybe it's PWO? Okay, station attempting to check in, please come now with your call sign. That's Brian PWO. Okay, back to you again. I'm not getting it all the way, Pastor Max. I'm trying to change SDRs right now. That's Brian checking in. Okay, station attempting to check in. Please come again and everybody listen up. The last station trying to check in, please come again. Papa Whiskey Mike, Brian. Oscar Whiskey Mike. Brian. Okay, okay, we got it figured out. That is Brian, KJ7PWM. Good morning, Brian. Had a little text message exchange with Brian this morning already, but we got you checked in. Brian, thank you for being there. Any prayer requests, just text those to me and I'll relay those to the net. All right, we got Brian, KJ7PWM, checked in. All right, Brian, I see your text message. Copy that. Okay, real good. All right, WB7MX here, Net Control for the West Coast Pueblo Study. We continue to look for check-ins. Please come down to your call time. . All right, Danette, would like to acknowledge Peter, KJ7BA. Good morning Peter, see you there on the Utah SDR. Good to have you with us. Always appreciate seeing your callsign. All right, Peter says good morning to everyone, so he heard me. All right, Peter, real good. We got you all checked in. Thank you. Alright, it is about time for us to get started. Any last minute check-ins, any last minute check-ins to the West Coast Bible Study, please come now with your call sign. Okay, I'm not sure if I know is Dan, N6TNI. Good morning, Dan. Good to have you here with us. See you there on the Half Moon Bay SDR. That's Dan in 6T&I there in Roseville, California. Let's see. I'm just looking through things here. We've got K7NEB. Yep, that's Keith. So I've got Keith checked in. in verse 1, and we're going to read verses 1 through 7. Paul continues to talk about the issue of divisions in the church, and he began talking about that in chapter 1, in verse 10, where he talked about the report from the house of Chloe of the Division. He talked a little bit about the gospel and the need to trust the message and the need to trust the Spirit and not be looking to people and personalities in order for there to be success in the work of the kingdom, but rather let's look to the message and let's look to the Holy Spirit and not focus on people, but on God and His gospel, because that's where the power is. It's not in Paul, it's not in Apollos, it's not in Cephas. It is in the message and in the work of the Spirit. So even though it seems foolish to the world, nevertheless, we proclaim the message because it's the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes. But before we read our passage, we want to open our time together in prayer. Kevin, KB7ZXN, could you please open in prayer for us today? Okay. Amen. Amen. Thank you for that. Scott N7 in PA, if you could read for us today, I think people can hear you on the FDRs. If you could read for us 1 Corinthians 3:1-7, Scott N7 in PA. All righty. Well, good morning, everyone. This morning we'll be reading now the New American Standard Version, picking up our story in 1 Corinthians 3:1: "And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshy, and are you not walking like men? For when one says, I am of Paul, and the other, I am of Apollos, are you not near men? That brings us up to verse 8, Max, in 7 NPA. Yeah, Scott, excellent copy on the SDRs. Thank you for that good reading. All right, any comments on this section of 1 Corinthians 3:1-7, please come now with your call sign. Kevin, please go ahead. I can get things rolling here a little bit, I guess. Yeah, we see a transition here in the writing to the Corinthian church. You know, Paul began in chapter 1 talking about the wisdom of God is foolishness to man, and then in 2, how the only way we can begin to understand the wisdom of God is through the guidance and the revelation of the Holy Spirit. But here, he's changing gears kind of to his point where the rubber meets the road, making the point, I'd love to talk to you about the deeper things and the spiritual things, but you guys have things upside down. You're focused on the flesh. and it's kind of begun here. Instead of the things of God and what was being taught, they were talking about, well, who's bringing it to us? Who, you know, focused on one man over another? Well, this person's bringing us more than that person, and, well, I'm following this person than that. Anyway, Paul's saying, you've got it all messed up. You're missing the point. It's about God. It's about Christ. to be learning and getting established in the basic principles. But, you know, as we grow, we should be able to start understanding and exploring the deeper things. But if we're focused on the worldly and the carnal and the fleshly, we're not going to miss that. An illustration I always liked, if a toddler is one and one and a half years old and still drinking milk, you know, Well, we understand that, but if, you know, and can't walk or talk too well. But if a guy is 20 years old, he still can't walk or talk too well, well, that's a tragedy. KP7 said, "Accept." Yeah, Kevin, well said. You know, These folks are looking horizontally instead of vertically, aren't they? He says, I can't speak unto you as spiritual but unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. And as you said, you know, yeah, when you have a brand new believer, well, they're going to be weak in the faith. They're going to tend to trust in men. and they're going to be looking around them. But, you know, they need to be looking up to God and looking to Him for blessing, help, strength, maturity, and looking to His Word. And so there was altogether too much trust here in human instruments and not enough trust in divine operations. You know, when God does His work, He does His work, He does a supernatural work through human instruments. And, you know, we tend to look to the instruments. It's kind of like a painter, you know, who uses a paintbrush to produce a beautiful painting, and people are all focused on the paintbrush. Well, no, look at the guy that was holding the paintbrush. He's the one who did the work. He just used the paintbrush as his instrument. And so God is the one who's doing the work. He just uses us as the instruments to get it done. So, Kevin, yeah, well said. You know, this issue of focusing on people and looking to people and trusting in people for getting the work of God done is like looking to the paintbrush and trusting in the paintbrush to get the painting done. it'll never do anything if the master doesn't hold it in his hand and work with it and use it and empower it with his wisdom and with his grace. All right, good comment there, Kevin. Other comments, please come down. Alpha. Go ahead, Alpha. Yeah, Max, I kind of look at it, uh, I look for all of us to look inward for a moment. You know, like, uh, uh, uh, take an evening or so, and my wife decides what she's gonna make for dinner. And she brings me a big salad. Yeah, I like that. That's cool. But if she brings me steak and mashed potatoes and gravy and creamed corn and a roll, that's my favorite. That's what gets me a little skip in my walk, if you might say. Well, our spiritual walk's the same way, Max. We got to get off the salad and get a little skip on our walk when the meat and potatoes come. And it's that meat and potatoes that allows us to grow. And when we partake of the meat and potatoes and we grow, then that breeds fire in our bones and it multiplies. But we've got to get off our hind end there, Max. It's more about than just the salad and 7 MPH. Yeah, that's right, Scott. We need to do the work of moving beyond the basics of Christianity onto the substance and the depth and the breadth of Christianity. You know, the Bible is a big book. There are 66 individual books there. Some of them are pretty long. And there's a lot to know. And there's a lot to understand. And, you know, you see Christians who say, oh, just give me the simple stuff. Well, simple stuff's great. That's what we start with. You know, we start out with God created you. He gave you a law. You know, you broke the law. That's called sin. You need to repent of your sin and ask Jesus to save you from your sin because he died on the cross in your place. And if you have faith in him as your Savior, then, you know, you're going to go to heaven when you die. Well, there's the milk right there, okay? But there's a lot more in the Bible than that. And then there's a lot more about what I just said that we can understand at a much deeper level. And, you know, people talk about milk doctrines and meat doctrines. And, you know, the meat is just the milk developed, expanded, and understood to its fullest extent as the Bible reveals it. And so we can understand the simple truths about salvation, but then there's a lot more to know about salvation. And we can understand the simple truths about what a church is and how we should function in it, but then there's a lot more to know about the doctrine of the church. And so it goes. And so people who just stay in the shallow end of the pool, as you indicated, if they're just eating the salad, not willing to really get into the meat and potatoes, or they're just drinking the milk and they're not willing to eat the steak, you know, that really inhibits their growth. So these people are acting, it says, fleshly. The King James says "carnal." Same idea. And the idea here is that they're acting, in many respects, like unsaved people. We know that those who are carnal, as to the characteristic of their life, are unsaved. For example, it says in Romans 8 and verse 7, "The carnal mind is enmity against God." It's not subject to the law of God, and indeed can it be. to be carnally minded as death, but to be spiritually minded as life and peace. And so Paul sees these people as saved folks. He sees them in verse 1 as babes in Christ. But he's saying to them, in this area of divisions, you're acting like unsaved folks. And we all know people that we say, you know, that guy's a genuine Christian. He really is saved. Boy, in this one area, he needs to grow up, because he's acting like an unsaved person, with his temper, or with his language, or with his divisive attitude, or whatever it is, right? And so that's what he's saying, is stop acting like unsaved people in this area of saying, I'm of Paul, I'm of Apollos. He's saying, you're acting like unsaved people when you're engaging this divisive spirit, because that's what the unsaved do. They divide up into groups. One group attacks another group. There's no peace. There's no unity. There's no love. And he's saying, you need to stop that. So, Scott, you're right. We need to move on to maturity is the idea here, and understand the Bible at a deeper level. So we're not just looking at people. to be able to bring us edification, but we're looking past the teacher to the one who gives the teaching and trusting in him. All right, other comments, please come down. AK-6, OK, and good morning. Jeff, AK6OK, we got you checked in. Please come forward with your comment. My comment is Scott is just so good at his illustrations. My gosh, steak and, uh, creamed corn, man, my mouth is watering over here. Yeah, copy that. Well, you know, that's why we study the Bible. So that's why we have these Bible studies. That's why we go to church. That's why I read good books, so that we can get a little deeper and a little further into our understanding of the teaching of the Bible. All right, Jeff, great comment there. Okay, other comments come now. 5 Yankee. 5 Yankee, please go ahead, back. Yeah, I want to comment too on Scott's comment. It made me think of a saying that I used to hear all the time, "Get to the meat of the matter." and get all that's in the passage if we possibly can. Good comment there, Beck. All right, I got a comment from Brian, KJ7PWM, by way of text message. He says, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verses 1 through 4 was my reading this morning, and it says, more and more. Let's just look at that passage for a second that Brian brought to our attention. Here we go. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verses 1 to 4. I'll just read it. It says, Furthermore, then, we beseech you, brethren, exhort you by the Lord Jesus that as you have received of us how you ought to walk and please God, so you would abound more and more. Amen. So the idea there is that you don't get to a certain point and just stop, but you keep going. There's lots more to learn. And so we need to learn, as Brian said, more and more. So that's 1 Thessalonians 4 and verse 1. Good comment there, Brian. Good parallel passage. There's also that passage in Hebrews. chapter 5. And in Hebrews chapter 5, the author of the book of Hebrews says, in verse 11, Hebrews 5, 11 to 14, he says, "...of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing you are dull of hearing." Verse 1, have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. And so the idea here is we need to stop being children in our understanding. We need to grow up and be mature adults in our understanding, and be able to be skillful in the use of the Word of God, so that when we come to these various passages, we know what they say, we know what they mean, we know how they apply, and we know how they connect with other passages of Scripture, so that we have a comprehensive, not exhaustive, but a comprehensive knowledge of the Word of God. And so, Brian, great passage there in 1 Thessalonians 4 and verse 1. All right, other comments, please come down. Does that make sense? Does that make sense? Please go ahead, Kevin. Yeah, very good comments. And, of course, we see this theme repeated throughout Hebrews and elsewhere. And, you know, the spiritual growth does take effort. And that's one of the things that we do understand. If we don't put the... work and effort into seeking a God who will bless us with understanding through the Spirit. But it does take effort. It's like someone 10, 20, 30 years down the road can still recite John 3, 16, but can't explain to you what justification or sanctification or glorification is. Now, you'd expect that from a new believer. But down the road, 10, 20, 30 years, you ought to have a pretty good handle on that. You know, we can sing Amazing Grace. But we also, you know, at some point I'll be able to talk about substitutionary atonement and what that means. And, you know, a good example of that is as we went through the book of Romans, Paul got into some pretty deep areas there in some portions. And that's an example of those deeper things there. Now, not everybody's going to grasp some of that. And in due time, preferably, we'll see. by the guidance of the Spirit, they will. But yes, it does take effort on our part and purposeful focus as well on God and the things of God, not on men and who we're following or how it looks against the world philosophies and what have you from an intellectual standpoint. We've got to internalize these things through prayer and effort and taking the time, KB7 is that example. Extremely well said, Kevin, through effort and taking the time. You know, there's so many things to attract our attention. We can spend endless amounts of time in entertainment. We can spend endless amounts of time reading anything and everything except the Word of God. And that's one reason why I really appreciate this. Bible study. Here we are, we're taking 45 minutes or an hour to really focus on the Word of God every day. And I can't tell you how many people have told me privately, boy, I really grow as a result of my time on the West Coast Bible study and the things I've learned there. Well, that's how it's done. That's how we go from milk to strong meat. And as you well said, Kevin, Romans was a deep book. There's a lot of meat there. And so we have to spend the time, we have to expend the effort, we have to put aside other things that maybe are kind of attractive and fun, in order to spend time reading the scriptures and getting appointed with them. So, Kevin, really well said. The net would like to acknowledge Joe, KD7WBV. Good morning, Joe. Good to see you there on the Half Moon Bay SDR. And also, Gene, K7GWR. Good morning, Gene. Good to have you with us as well. All right. Other comments on our passage, please come down here closely. I'll follow up. Kevin, follow up. Go ahead. Yeah, and I would also make the point, I think, here, too, in context of that and the text here, is it is important for church to be able to minister to both. We, as churches, need to be able to provide the milk for the new believers to help them Well, there's going to be a lot of the churches that it's not going to be their needs met in growing spiritually. If you just focus on the deeper things where there's a lot of people that are going to get lost and never get the basic nourishment that they need to where they can grow in to those understandings. So I think it's important for us to understand there's a role for both, as Paul is pointing out. But as time develops and stuff, we should be into growing. And another just point with that is we never stop growing. You know, those of us that have studied for many years, And the kids were just having a blast, you know. And they had this big high dive there. And my middle daughter asked her mother, come on, Mom, let's go up to the high dive. And, well, Mama Bear has a huge attachment to Baby Bear. So she doesn't want to disappoint Baby Bear. So they go up to this high dive. You know, you're here encouraging. I'm here encouraging. A lot of the Corps people are here every day giving illustrations and points. But then there's a lot of us, just like my wife, You know, Saturday I asked for all of us to really consider assisting you, Max, in closing prayer. Well, that's diving off the high dive into the pool. That's stepping out. That's stretching ourselves. That's not laying around. drinking a milkshake just with our sunglasses and hat on enjoying ourselves in the recliner around the pool that's getting up and moving and working there Max so eventually eventually Mama Bear she took the big leap and I really encourage that all of us around this table will seek God's faith in whatever ministry they have that God has for you and take that leap of faith And what you'll find after a while is that you're growing because you're ministering. You're growing because you're taking that next step that was uncomfortable to take. But once you've taken it, then you'll be really glad that you did that and that now you are able to have an expanded sphere of ministry and an expanded degree of understanding and ability to not only take the truth in, but give the truth out. So good point there, Scott. All right, any other comments? Please come down. Okay, I'm fine. and the wife would like that, there's always something, Will, that keeps me from wanting to jump in the pool. And so, you know, what we've got to do is we've got to say, okay, I'm not going to just dangle my feet in the Scriptures. I'm going to jump in. I'm going to spend, you know, 30 minutes just reading the Bible, and I'm not going to let anything pull me away from it. Or I'm going to spend, you know, five minutes in prayer, and I'm not going to let my mind wander and get distracted and go off into the weeds. So you're right, Will. Yeah, so Will asked us to add to the prayer list, pastors who are constantly getting interrupted. You know, a pastor needs to have extended amounts of time to pray, to study the scriptures, to prepare his messages. And you know, when there are 10,000 people learning 10,000 things, and he's got all these responsibilities and all these activities. need to purpose ourselves not to get caught up in those personality differences and start acting out against one another, because we're only hurting our witness and the opportunity for God to be glorified and others to come to know Him and see the beauty and the love of the church. KB7 is that example. And so we need to not think that we are important or that we are indispensable. Jesus Christ is important, and Jesus Christ is indispensable. And he's the one who gets the glory for all that's done and all that's accomplished. So let's all remember, God gives the increase, to God be the glory. And so twice... In verse 6, God gave the increase. In verse 7, the God that gave us the increase. So to him be the glory for anything that's ever achieved in our churches, in the West Coast Bible Study, or in our families. All right, we are done today. It's time to go to prayer. Jerry, AE70R is going to be leading us in prayer. Are there any final prayer requests before Jerry leads us in prayer? Please come down to the call line. And we ask the following things in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen. Back to you, Mike. Thank you, Jerry, for that. It took me a second to get my SDR turned off. Jerry, I really appreciate you leading us in prayer. Thank you for that. This is WB7MX, neck control for the West Coast Bible Study. 5 Yankee. Uh, 5 Yankee, go ahead. Are you ready for that joke? Uh, yes I am, go ahead. Why did the banana go out with the prune? Please repeat. Why did the banana go out with the prune? I'm sure it would be very interesting and entertaining for us all to sit around and talk about how we met our wives or our husbands and how that all worked out over the process of time. Thank the Lord for the people he brought into our lives. Yeah, Roger that. I wanted to share something to you. Do you recall not too far in the past where I spoke to you about how I believe I've got angels with me all the time when I'm on the road? Yeah, copy that. Go ahead. oh, 6,000 miles, 9,000 miles on the vehicle. And I had a problem with my emergency brake, so I took it to Far West, and I had them look it over. And they told me the job was 350, but then they'd give me a break and do it for 300. And I thought, you know, I'm gonna call Les Schwab just to see how much they would charge to see if I'm taking for a ride. So I called Les Schwab, well, they were gonna do it $58 cheaper. So I figured, okay. And one out front holding you back as you went down the hill. So, you know, the Bible says the angel of the Lord encamps around about them that fear him to deliver them. And, you know, it speaks very clearly about guardian angels at the end of Hebrews chapter 1. Are not they all ministering spirits sent to minister to those who shall be the heirs of salvation? as servants of God who do minister to us, just like we value and appreciate people who are servants of God that minister to us. But, of course, angels have a lot of power and a lot of ability to do things for us that people could never do. So I'm looking forward, Beck, when we get to heaven, to seeing the angels. and just appreciating them as fellow servants of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so praise the Lord for that. Well, good report back, and I hope that they do get things fixed properly and get those things squared away. Yeah, Roger, thank you. I appreciate that. I'm looking forward to having a new body with good hands where I can play guitar. Hopefully doing nice guitar. and be with the band up in heaven. Roger? Uh, Beck, you will absolutely be able to do that. There are definitely instruments, and in particular, stringed instruments in heaven. It talks about there being harps, and really a guitar, just like a piano, is a kind of a harp, a stringed instrument, right? And there's going to be trumpets, which are wind instruments. So yeah, God is the inventor of music. Yeah, Roger. Well, I know one thing. My mother and I didn't get along very well, but the times that I actually appreciated enjoying my mother most was when we sang together in church. Yeah, amen. And, you know, that's why we have congregational singing in church, because as we sing together with one mind and one mouth glorifying God, it really ties us together. It gives us a sense of unity. And he says, "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name." Let's see, that's 13... Where is that? Yeah, there it is, 1315, Hebrews 1315. By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. So the best way to express praise is to express gratitude. So, you know, what your life is there, Beck, is a symphony of praise to God as you express that continual attitude of thankfulness to God. Over. Thank you. Well Roger, and you know that's something that bothers me. Saying thank you, I don't know how many times Sandy and I have ever done something for someone else. And it means so much to me when they say thank you. And there's a lot of times that I do things for people simply because I know they'll appreciate it. And those are the ones that say thank you. But so many people nowadays no longer do that, Roger. Yeah, copy that. And, you know, you're rightly offended when people do not say thank you. You know, when Jesus healed the ten lepers, right, in the Gospels there, only one of them returned to give thanks. And Jesus said, where are the other nine? from God and also from those to whom we express our thanks. Over. Yeah, Roger. Well, I give thanks and praise for you every night, Pastor Max, in the West Coast Bible Study and the Midwest Bible Study. And I'm going to leave it there as that, and the reason why is because I need to take my shot, Roger. Thank you. . so *Rain* Thank you. so

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